Content

Abraham Cruzvillegas (b. 1968) had his works featured in a major project in the Turbine Hall of Tate Modern in 2015 –16 and in extensive solo shows in the US, France and Germany. The Kunsthaus Zürich now presents the first exhibition in Switzerland by the Mexican artist. In his sculptures and space-filling installations, Cruzvillegas investigates architecture as the expression of social conditions. Cruzvillegas grew up in Ajusco, a volcanic landscape south of the Mexican capital. In the wake of a rural exodus in the 1960s, it became a centre of makeshift, self-built housing constructed from materials found nearby, without foundations or construction plans. The entire community of family members and neighbours was involved in building them.

Drawing on this experience, Cruzvillegas sees the sculptural form as a process of transformation, action and solidarity. His works are imbued with a sense of constant becoming. Improvisation, working with found materials and collaborating with others play a key role.

In Zurich, Cruzvillegas will also be working with people locally. He will be transforming the large exhibition gallery into a workshop, in which new works will take shape during the exhibition and a range of events will be held. At the end, the new creations will finally be assembled into a complete installation, transposing the concept of dynamic process that is key to Cruzvillegas’s work into the exhibition format itself.